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Monthly Archives: August 2014

Above on your left is the tart decorated for Lois A. 90th B-D. Besides the bought decorations I used some violets from my garden.

The middle picture shows the crust, pierced and ready to go in the oven briefly.

The right picture shows the tart undecorated.

Chocolate Pear Custard Tart

This is truly DELICIOUS. It’s hard to stop eating it. It’s somewhat time intensive to make, but truly worth it. If you don’t decorate it, it looks a little bland so I do suggest placing some little eatable flowers on top or something else to make it look a bit more appealing. I have doubled this recipe and used a 13X9 Pyrex dish; it worked out just fine but I did bake it somewhere between 45 to 60 minutes. Remember, I am in altitude so for your first baking it’s a watch and see mode.

HINT: Poach the pears first; then do the custard; then make your crust; then put the whole deal together and bake; then cool. Told you it’s a bit time intensive but believe me it’s worth it.

Ingredients and hints for the pears:

For the pears that will go on top of the crust please do the following and do this before making the crust:

6 (or more) UNPEELED Bartlet pears, halved, cored and sliced into half-inch slices. The pears can be semi-ripe but not mushy!

Poach 4 of the pears according to my recipe on this blog. Use the method on top of the stove and I did put in currents.

Save the extra 2 sliced unpeeled and un-poached pears for the last topping to go on top of the poached pears before you pour the chocolate custard sauce over all.

Also, what I did was to buy extra pears and I poached them as well. So, when I served the tart, I also served a separate bowl of poached pears for those who are gluten intolerant. Of course I also served my no-churn homemade ice cream. YUM!!!!!

Mix some sugar and cinnamon together to sprinkle on the extra 2 pears you will be placing on top of the poached pears before you pour the chocolate custard sauce over all.

Ingredients for the chocolate custard:

1/3 C. semisweet chocolate chips

2 Tblsp. unsalted butter, melted

1/4 C. plus 2 Tblsp. whole milk

1 Tsp. almond extract

1/2 Tsp. salt

1 egg and 1 egg yolk

3 Tblsp. granulated white sugar

3 Tblsp. all purpose flour

2 Tblsp. unsweetened cocoa powder (I always buy the best for this)

Directions for the custard:

Combine the butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over low hear, stirring until totally melted. Sir in the milk, almond and salt. Set aside.

Combine the egg, yolk, sugar, flour and cocoa powder in the food processor or mixer bowl and process for about 2 minutes. Pour in the milk and chocolate mixture and continue to process until smooth and completely incorporated. Set aside for a bit.

Ingredients for the Crust:

1 package of Walker’s plain shortbread cookies

1 large egg

4 Tblsp. butter, melted and cooled

1/2 C. all purpose flour

1/3 C. granulated white sugar

1 Tsp. almond extract

Directions:

Prepare the crust:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Place shortbread cookies in food processor and process until finely ground.

Add the egg, melted butter, flour, sugar, salt and extract and process again until a soft, buttery dough forms.

Remove dough, roll into a ball, wrap in plastic and chill in frig. for 20 minutes.

Press the chilled dough into a greased 13” by 4” or a 9” round tart pan and score all over with a fork.

Place tart pan on a cookie sheet and blind bake in the oven for 7 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool.

Now you can place the poached pears on top of the crust and after you have done that, place the last 2 sliced unpeeled pears skin side up in a nice pattern. Sprinkle those with a bit of your mixed cinnamon/sugar.

Pour the custard over all.

Bake in your still heated 350 degree oven on the cookie sheet for 25 minutes or till the custard is set, firm and the crust is slightly golden.

WHEN THE MUSTARD LADY COMES TO TOWN. Here, in Sun Valley, Idaho, the real mustard lady is Lois Allison. For all of you locals who have been buying and enjoying Sun Valley Mustard, Lois was the developer of this fine product. She did it just as Bill Hewlett and David Packard did— in the garage–only it was in her tiny garage on Warm Springs Rd. in Ketchum. The mustard has since gone through several transformations but when I buy a jar, Lois definitely comes to my mind.

Lois still owns that garage and attached dwelling but now resides most of the time in Santa Barbara, CA. However, she did finally make it back up to her beloved Sun Valley and to celebrate her arrival plus an upcoming 90th birthday in Sept., I threw a little ladies get together at my place.

The dishes I prepared were the following: (appetizer) Gorgonzola and Walnut Stuffed Mini-Peppers (main dish) Cheese Soufflé with fresh Hagerman Corn, Onions and Jalapeno Peppers, (thirst quencher) Lavender Lemonade and (for desert) the “ b-d” cake was a Chocolate Pear Custard Tart with Almond Shortbread Crust along with a bowl of Poached Pears and homemade no-churn chocolate and vanilla ice cream. Brought by guests were additional appetizers of smoked ID trout on rice crackers along with cheddar cheese, various breads to go with the soufflé, 2 wonderful salads, wine, champagne and Prosecco.

Donna Beaux arrange a fabulous slide picture show on her computer featuring of course, the guest of honor, Lois.

The weather was perfect so need I say we all had glorious time and did not leave hungry??!!!!! It was fun for all!!!!